The One with the Tape Recorder
by bigeandhertv
Summary: A fill in the blank and slight continuation of the episode "The Bird's Nest"


_**A/N: I had this idea pass through my head a while ago and I guess I forgot about it. Well I was watching the very episode and it came back into my mind. Anyways can't wait to share this with you. It is based off the episode "The Bird's Nest." Of course I do not own these characters or some bits of this dialogue/story.**_

"Maxwell! I thought we might have a little…..nightcap!" C.C. said in a sultry voice with a martini glass in each hand.

"I don't want to do it at the house. Meet me at the Regency hotel in an hour."

C.C., excited that this might really finally be her chance to seal the deal with Maxwell Sheffield, ran from his bedroom door in order to get ready. Certainly a meeting at a place as nice as the Regency could lead to something big in her life.

Momentarily Niles stepped out of Maxwell Sheffield's bedroom with a huge smile on his face and kissed and patted the tape recorder in his right hand. He had really gotten C.C. Babcock good this time. It was easy to get her when she was staying at the Sheffield Mansion. That $20 tape recorder was one of the best investments he had made in a while.

"Niles, what are you doing hanging outside my room?" Maxwell asked as he walked up towards the door.

Realizing that Niles could take advantage of this opportunity to get more material to use against C.C. he said, "I was just anxious to hear how your meeting at the Regency went. Did Papparoti agree to sing Paviachi at your benefit?"

"After I buttered him up. I said 'I've dreamed of seeing you dressed like a clown. My God it'd be thrilling!'" Maxwell bolstered with pride.

Knowing this would be great dialogue to use against C.C. later, he was having a hard time keeping in his laughter. He couldn't take it much longer. He managed to get out the words "Thank you" and briskly walked to the living room, where he collapsed onto the couch and burst out laughing.

As much as he didn't want to admit it, he loved having C.C. at the house. In his mind he would justify it as a mere love for playing pranks on her and their banter together day in and day out. Truth be told however, their was more to the story. It gave him the opportunity to see her in a little bit less then a black business suit. He looked forward to that every night she stayed at the Sheffield Mansion.

The fact that he was fantasizing about her in this sort of way terrified him tremendously. He would sooner die then show any of this to her and so the bigger the prank the better. He needed to get her out of the house, because truth be told he could only take so much of having her a little less than dressed in the next room.

With these thoughts racing through his mind, Niles fell asleep on the couch. Of course his dreams were filled with images of this beautiful blonde and tall socialite.

…

C.C. had been waiting at the Regency hotel now for over an hour. Needless to say she was not in the greatest mood and she wondered what was taking Maxwell so damn long. He was never late for anything!

_I must look like a fool sitting here all dressed up waiting desperately for a man to sweep me off my feet. Have I always been like this?_

Truthfully she hadn't been, however she wasn't getting any younger and in her life it just seemed more difficult to find someone with each year added on.

With this thought in mind, she ordered another martini. It was her 3rd and she was definitely feeling its effects. _Surely he has stood me up. I should of known he wasn't coming, not with Nanny Fine rambling on about something. I am sure she distracted him. _But of course, C.C. had that feeling in the back of her mind, that maybe he had no intention of showing up at all.

Just when she thought her night couldn't get any worse, she sees, none other than, Niles walk into the hotel. _I wonder what he is doing here? Oh God, don't let him see me._

Niles looked around and immediately saw C.C. at the bar. He had woken up and actually felt slight remorse about her sitting at the hotel waiting for a man who had no intention of showing up. Of course he wasn't going to reveal to her that he had set the whole thing up, because of course he wasn't done having fun with her and the tape recorder yet.

As he walked up to her, he took everything about her, in. She was wearing a gorgeous black dress the showed off her curves beautifully, her blonde hair hanging loosely on her shoulders. Even from several feet away, her could recognize the smell of her perfume, a smell that he took in everyday as she walked by in the kitchen.

Sometimes he envied Maxwell Sheffield and these supposed feelings she had for him. He wondered what it would be like if things were different and he were the Broadway producer. He knew damn good and well, if this woman harbored any sort of feelings for him, he would, in no doubt, act on them.

With these thoughts in his mind he tapped her on the shoulder, while not denying that this little smidgen of contact caused his heart to pump faster then normal.

"Ms. Babcock. Maxwell sent me here to tell you that he couldn't make it. I came to give you a ride back to the house."

"Well it's about bloody time. I have only been sitting here for a freaking hour and half!"

Niles, wanting to shoot some sort of barb or wise-crack at her, held his tongue. Noticing the 3 empty martini glasses and realizing she must have drank those on his account, he thought about her vulnerability and decided not to use it against her.

He simply said "Ms. Babcock, are you ready to leave? The town car is parked outside." Without thinking, he extended his hand for her and, surprisingly, without any sort of brash remark, she took it. Silently they walked to the car hand in hand and broke apart when they needed to get into the vehicle.

Niles didn't know what came over him but he couldn't deny the he enjoyed having her hand in his even if it was only for a short period of time.

C.C. was having similar thoughts. She hated to admit it and would never tell anyone, but she reveled every millisecond of their 2 minute walk to the town car. Somehow this sudden contact felt…..right. _Must be the alcohol talking again._ She thought as she remembered a past _experience_ with Niles involving alcohol. Deep down, however she knew that that wasn't true, and the fact that she was thinking this way was very unsettling to her.

…

The drive back to the Sheffield residence was silent. Both of them were engrossed in their own thoughts, although they both sneaked glances at one another when the other wasn't looking.

It was around midnight when they arrived back at the house. Maxwell, Fran and the children were in bed (although not necessarily asleep).

C.C. walked into the mansion with Niles right behind.

They both headed up the stairs about to head to their respective bedrooms.

"Butler boy. Thanks for the ride. I'm glad you didn't let me sit there all night." As hard as it was for this woman to show any sort of friendliness, she was able to manage a warm smile and she even placed her hand on his shoulder.

Of course even though the contact wasn't directly skin to skin, he could still feel it through his suit coat and his heart was pumping and his stomach was fluttering tremendously. _Oh God, I hope she can't tell how I am feeling. _As their eyes met however, he saw a spark in them and wondered if she felt the same way about him.

As if some sort of magnetic force was at work, they inched closer and closer together until mere inches were between them. Slowly there heads migrated towards one another, both with their eyes closed and their lips about to meet.

They were knocked out of their trance however by the sound of a frantic nasal New Yorker.

C.C. used this as an opportunity to escape. While Fran went on to Niles about how she hardboiled Brighton's bird eggs, C.C. snuck off to her room. No doubt she was slightly shaken by what just almost happened.

Niles walked back to his room also taken aback by this strange night. He wouldn't deny however, that essentially he was responsible for it and wasn't slightly excited by the whole thing. _If one prank can lead to this, then by golly, I will play hundreds._

Fran also noticed this odd behavior. She could spot sexual tension 100 miles away and it was definitely evident between these 2 as she walked into the room. She even had the impression that just maybe she might have been interrupting something. _C.C. and Niles? No, they hate each other, right? _But actions speak louder than words and clearly what she had just witnessed showed that these 2 did not hate each other as much as they let on.

…..

The next day everything was seemingly normal. The kids were at school, and Fran was busy watching her soaps and stories on television. C.C. was still angry about being "stood up" by Maxwell and she had every intention on letting him know.

Niles was his usual self. Him and C.C. had exchanged their usual morning barbs and it was high and time that he got her again with another excellent prank. He thought about what he had recorded on his tape recorder the previous night and immediately grabbed the cordless phone along with the recorder.

"Hi this is C.C. Babcock, please leave a message at the sound of the tone."

Niles played the recorder, "I've dreamed of seeing you dressed like a clown. My God it'd be thrilling!"

Happy with himself, he started singing from the musical 9 to 5 when Fran walked into the kitchen to discuss with him how to get Brighton an extension on his science project.

Then Sylvia came in with some lobster on steroids and while Fran talked to her Niles thought about his prank on C.C. _This one will certainly get her good._ He chuckled to himself.

He was a little taken aback by the fact that Sylvia was going to take bath and put calamine lotion on her rash at the house but he was unsurprised by it nevertheless and continued on with his daily duties.

…..

C.C. had voiced her feelings to Maxwell about the Regency incident earlier in the day. Of course he was completely oblivious to her thoughts about this and she was slightly confused by his response but nevertheless she went on with her usual day at work.

It was around 4:00 pm when she came into the kitchen to grab a soda out the Sheffields' Sub Zero refrigerator. She opened the door to the fridge, grabbed a diet coke and was about to head back to the office when she saw none other then a tape recorder sitting on the countertop.

Thinking it must belong to Niles or one of the children she started to play what was on it.

Hearing Maxwell's voice she was initially confused as to why his voice would be recorded on the tape recorder. She continued to listen and suddenly she heard the bit about meeting at the Regency. Suddenly it clicked in her mind.

_Maxwell had no intention of meeting at the Regency. This was Rochester's doing for sure! Well he will rue the day he messed with C.C. Babcock. _

With that, she took the tape recorder and headed back into her office, after first checking her messages and hearing something about Maxwell saying he would love to see her dressed up as a clown. _Well that can be arranged._

…..

It was around 8:00 pm and Niles was just about done with his daily duties. He was absolutely spent. About to retire for the evening, he knocked on Maxwell's door.

"Did you need me sir?"

"Run out to Kennedy airport would you and pick up Pavorotti? Oh and you better leave now there's 2 lanes closed on the LIE, it will take you hours."

"Yes sir" Niles groaned as he head downstairs to grant Maxwell's request.

_C.C. popped her head out of Maxwell's bedroom to make sure her plan had worked._ Sure enough he had gone downstairs and was heading out to grant "Maxwell's" request. Forgetting, she still had the clown nose on, C.C. headed downstairs to watch television.

She planned on rubbing it in Niles' face when he arrived home after realizing the request was fake.

Of course being that she had many early mornings in the week, tiredness got the better of her and she fell asleep on the couch.

….

Niles was about halfway to the airport when his cell phone started to ring. Wondering who would be calling him at this hour, he picked it up.

"Niles, old man, where are you? You didn't tell us you were going anywhere tonight."

"Sir, you told me to go to the…..!" _Damn I should have thought about this sooner, Pavorotti's flight came in hours ago. I should have known! Miss Babcock must be behind this. Oh she definitely has it coming to her now._

With that thought in mind, he turned the car around and headed back to the Sheffield Mansion.

….

C.C. was awoken to the sound of the door opening. Gathering her thoughts together and realizing it must be Niles, she immediately popped to the upright position and for his benefit, she put a huge smirk on her face and eagerly waited as he walked through the door.

As annoyed as he was for having driven halfway to the airport in NYC traffic, he couldn't help but feel some sense of happiness at the sight of her. Again he caught himself taking in everything about her as he walked into the house. She was wearing a black negligee under an open black robe of the same silky material. She looked beautiful and it damn near killed him to admit it. Of course he soon realized that C.C. was wearing a clown nose and he started laughing immediately. As funny as it was to him however, he hated the fact that she was willing to go to such outrageous lengths for a man who did not have any inkling of feelings for her and was too oblivious to realize just how much she supposedly felt for him.

C.C. confused as to why he was the one laughing. _Shouldn't I be laughing? He just drove to pick up a guy who I picked up 6 hours ago. _

"Niles, what is so damned funny?" she said slightly annoyed.

Niles, having this sudden urge to be close to her said:

"I didn't know your were the main act of the Ringling Brothers".

Simultaneously he reached over and slowly pulled the red clown nose off her face, his fingertips just barely brushing against her nose, but lingering there a little longer than necessary as he slowly removed the red puffy ball off her face.

Their trance lingered on for a few seconds until she realized what he had just said. Slightly embarrassed (although she would do whatever it was in her power to not show him that)

"Give me that!" Fumbling for the right words, she continued, "The little one and I were playing a game earlier."

"As if I'd believe you'd show an ounce of affection to any child!" he chuckled and held the nose up in the air. Of course he knew she would have no trouble reaching it as soon as she stood up given that she was very close to his height even without heels.

"What are you talking about, I adore little Gretel!" and she stood up ready to grab the nose out of his hand.

Of course, he wasn't going to make this easy on her and so he started moving it around back and forth up and down, behind his back. Truth be told he lived for these sorts of games he played with Babcock , and he loved the fact that he saw a smile on her face and she seemed to be sharing equal enjoyment.

All of the sudden, however, C.C. lost her footing and felt herself falling forward. It felt to her as if it was in slow motion and she knew instantly her face would be planted into the ground.

However, that never happened because Niles saw her falling forward and his instincts acted immediately. Niles was in front of her, holding her up before any damage was done.

They were now in one another's arms. Their eyes met.

"You do realize this isn't the first time you have tripped on something at this house."

"I know, but, you've never been there to catch me."

They sat there in each other's arms for a few seconds longer. Both mesmerized by each other's presence but slowly realizing that although this contact was nice, it wasn't enough. They both slowly closed their eyes and their lips met for what was a simple, but nevertheless, tender kiss. Their lips broke apart, but they still continued to stand in one another's arms, with looks of slight shock evident on their faces but their bodies refusing to let go just yet.

However this magnetism instantly broke free when the sound of Maxwell's footsteps and voice entered the living room.

"Niles, there you are. I was just making sure you got back alright. "

C.C. again saw this as an opportune time for her to escape to her room.

"Oh Niles, one more thing, do you think you could deliver this letter to the post office tomorrow morning. I need to get it to England as soon as possible."

"Yes sir."

"Great, well goodnight old man."

"Goodnight sir"

And Niles headed up the stairs. Realizing he still had the clown nose in his hand and wanting another excuse to see C.C. he headed to her room and knocked on the door.

"Come in."

"Bozo, I came here to return this to you. I figured you might need it for your next show." He laid it on her bedside table.

"Well I suppose I must return this to you as well." And with that she handed him the tape recorder, her fingertips brushing his hand as she handed him the device.

He knew that if he didn't leave the room soon, he may make an idiot out of himself because the longer he stayed in there, the more he got caught up in everything about this woman.

"Well I guess I better get to bed, early morning for me." He started to walk out the door, but was stopped as C.C. grabbed his hand.

"Thanks for rescuing me tonight Butler Boy."

With that, she stood up slowly and kissed him tenderly on the lips.

"Goodnight Niles."

"Goodnight Ms. Babcock and he headed off to bed."

Both of their nights were full of pleasant dreams filled with images of one another.


End file.
